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Strip away neon and gambling mecca of Las Vegas becomes bicycle haven

Just outside the Nevada resort city lies a network of trails far removed from the glitz and noise of the casinos

Only 30 kilometres west of Las Vegas Boulevard, Red Rock’s Mustang Trails lead into the Mojave Desert.

For a city synonymous with late nights, Late Night Trailhead just outside of Las Vegas is decidedly different. There are no buildings besides an outhouse, no meandering pedestrians or neon, and certainly no noise.

Instead you'll find about 200,000 acres of desert known as Red Rock Canyon, home to tarantulas, rattlesnakes, burros, bunnies and wild vegetation that can either harm or cure you.

More than 130 kilometres of trails lure another desert creature, namely the mountain biker - about 2,000 of them locally, according to Brandon Brizzolara, a guide and mountain bike specialist for Escape Adventures and Las Vegas Cyclery. He grew up in Vegas and fondly remembers when even The Strip had its own biking scene.

"From Tropicana to Fremont we'd have BMX sessions on The Strip like it was a skate park in the '90s," he says. "Vegas is a pretty active community, it's just The Strip that's a little out of shape."

We're here for The Strip and the desert - the beaten track and the single track: Neville and Leah and their teenagers, Ryan and Emma, all of us with contrasting wishes and expectations for our three-night stay in Las Vegas.

Shopping had been my kids' idea.

For hours we'd lost ourselves in high-octane consumerism at Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino, a consumers' paradise with 170 stores, 15 restaurants and several entertainment venues. Britney Spears has her own store here where Britney merchandise exhorts shoppers to "Work it, Bitch."

It's a legitimate vice in Sin City, but shopping - and Britney Spears - make me uncomfortable so I stood with a crowd and watched a guy get his belly tattooed at Club Tattoo. Leah got a manicure at Original Diva and had nails "to die for" long after returning home. Ryan and Emma blew their entire budget.

On all of our wish lists was a Vegas show. Britney had taken March off so we chose Cirque du Soleil's Zarkana, a celebration of circus traditions set in an abandoned theatre (but in reality at the Aria Resort and Casino). The show blends anarchic humour with the precision and grace of aerialists, acrobats, jugglers, high-wire and trapeze artists.

Great food was on everyone's list and the following three restaurants more than delivered.

The Yard House, whose beer list alone would entice me back, enjoys an enviable location just a few feet from the High Roller, the world's biggest observation wheel.

Just a short stroll through the LINQ brings you to Chayo Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar, a two-storey fiesta in the making, anchored by a mechanical bull. Mexico City-born chef Ernesto Zendejas draws upon classical training in France to present an exquisite mix of flavours: Lobster tacos, bass ceviche, cilantro cream soup, shrimp fajitas.

Plates are meant to be shared at Crush, one of many dining options at the MGM Grand, but our family came close to making a scene over the sea scallop benny, comprising sunny-side quail egg, chorizo and chipotle hollandaise. Some meals are too good to be shared.

Between the shopping, the show, the spa and the dining, we savoured afternoon pool time. In downtown Las Vegas, we mingled with celebrity look-alikes and body-painted models at the Fremont Street Experience, five city blocks of high-tech wizardry featuring a 550,000-watt sound system and a music and light show broadcast from an LED canopy 90 feet above the ground.

Further down Fremont Street, past El Cortez, the city's first casino, we found The Beat Coffeehouse and Records, the hippest little joint for breakfast and heaven to a 16-year-old who's just discovered vinyl.

Nowhere, though, seems quite so off the beaten track as the Mojave Desert and the single track of Red Rock Canyon. The mountain biking had been my idea. Only 30 kilometres west of Las Vegas Boulevard, Red Rock's Mustang Trails might have been on another planet, such is the contrast with The Strip.

For two hours we mostly coast on easy trails, stopping occasionally for impromptu descriptions of the vegetation. Brizzolara says he hasn't taken a pill in more than 10 years, and why would he with nature's pharmacy on his doorstep? There are seemingly cures for all ailments in the numerous sage bushes and plants like Mormon's Tea, a species of Ephedra, which is traditionally used to treat asthma, hay fever and the common cold.

If inducement to remain on the bike were needed, there are no shortage of plants that could make for a painful landing: Cacti, whose barbs expand after piercing skin, and the Joshua Tree, whose bayonet-shaped leaves feature serrated edges - handy for cutting barbecue wieners, according to Brizzolara. We stay on our bikes. My daughter, Emma, struggles gamely and mostly ignores her dad telling her to relax.

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